July 2013

July 24, 2013

Cockyboys’ Levi Karter and
internet host Cisco Vegas join us tonight for a fun filled night to raise funds
for QUO, the Queer Urban Orchestra! Erotic Prizes and Cheap Drinks and Air
Conditioning (surely, one of those three appeals!)

The Queer Urban Orchestra
(QUO) is a musical organization dedicated to the promotion of fine arts in the
New York City metropolitan area whose membership is open to all adult musicians
regardless of age, race, religion, sexual orientation, or gender identity. QUO
strives to entertain and educate members and audiences alike through
performances of classical and contemporary music, promoting equality,
understanding, acceptance, and respect.

Anyway, thanks to all of you who joined me for the Tenth and Final Bad Boys on the Hudson aboard the Queen of Hearts as part of the summer Sea Tea promotion. The Sea Tea continues doing it's magic every week (and there's a Marriage Equality night comin up on Sunday July 28th that looks like a lot of fun) but the Bad Boys parties are now finished. It was fun and Sunday night's party was a BLAST but no, Mark, there won't be an "11th and Final".

Many of you asked "why stop?" and the answer is simply - it's time to do something new/something different. And I will. Naturally, I already have an idea of the next direction I'm going in, and I'll let you all know as soon as there's something to talk about.

In the meantime, I continue to produce and emcee the weekly Bingo nights at Uncle Charlies - and tonight, I have XXX stud Collin Stone and singer Liz Fonseca as our last fundraiser of the season for singer Terry Christopher's Wisconsin AIDS Ride. Come on down to the bar tonight from 9pm to 11pm to get some erotic goodies, have good chat and of course bask in the AC. There's no cover and the drinks are cheapish. :)

July 14, 2013

That old cliche - don't be sad because something is over, be glad that something happened - definitely applies today, Sunday, July 14th, 2013, when the era of the Bad Boys parties is at last over.

I did my first set of xxx flicks in summer 1995 (starting August 4th to be exact) and, later that year, I took one of my best friends at the time to the Gay Erotic Video Awards. The event was sponsored by and raised money for the Los Angeles based organization, Aid for AIDS. At the time I didn't understand how special this was. In the way our society works, an AIDS organization (or really any LGBT based group) supporting sex work is a rare thing. I have to admit that I've never exactly understood why - it would seem a natural symbiotic relationship, but what do I know? With non-profits, government funding rules everything of course and even the slightest whiff of anything controversial will cause board members and executive directors to shudder and shake.(This is, by the way, in case you wondered, why most fundraising events are so fucking bland and dull. One of the things about AFA that was so neat is that they at the time understood how to be a good neighbor will all parts of the community. Their Red Dress parties are also legendary).

Anyway, Aid for AIDS was special in that it actively participated in the gay porn industry by creating a special fund to assist gay porn performers who were having financial difficulty due to HIV/AIDS. Not only did they create the Joey Stefano Fund, but they sold tickets to porn award shows from their offices on Santa Monica Blvd. I remember the first time I went in I was greeted by an older gentleman who kibbitzed and flirted with me. I would later learn that he was the orgs executive director.

Over the next couple years I would become friendly with the staff and promote the org's mission. In 1996 they asked me to make an appearance at what was then the Gauntlet (now the LA Eagle) for one of their Sunday beer busts - they'd sell all you can drink beer for $7, sell raffle tickets, give away porn. It was a huge success and always packed to the rafters. Eventually I started helping them book stars, emcee and sort of produce the event. It was also during this time that I met my second boyfriend, who was one of the orgs star volunteers.

Now I'm usually sort of against nanny states (limiting people's right to buy 64 oz drinks or whatever), but when the Mothers Against Drunk Driving crusaded against being able to sell unlimited amounts of beer to a city full of drivers, I was kind of on their side. It didn't just affect our event, but all beer busts in LA.

And so we had to come up with an alternative idea - and the Bad Boys Pool Party was born. My friend and columnist Mickey Skee had just written a book, Bad Boys of Video, where he interviewed a couple dozen gay porn stars (myself included) and I thought it would be a neat idea to include as many of the book's subjects as possible. It seemed a natural tie-in.

The first couple parties were good, but it wasn't until the third party that things really took off. I then moved the party to Palm Springs where it became a great destination for a weekend's worth of porn fans.

Michael Brandon's "Inappropriate Behavior Party" came out of our 2002 party where an ex boyfriend of mine took it up on himself to tell Michael that sucking off a dozen guys was "inappropirate behavior". (The ex was correct - I had very clear guidelines about what the party was and was not about - although he went about conveying that all wrong. This was one of the clearest examples of how the right message can be delivered in the wrong way).

Eventually I produced an annual Burlesque show in San Francisco after I'd moved to New York, but I just couldn't make it work living so far away. We did three of them though to benefit Magnet, and the 2005 show (the last one) was probably one of the best shows that I've ever had the pleasure to be involved with.

In New York, DJ Randy Bettis and I discovered that our birthdays are a day apart and so, for a few years we threw a Bad Boys style dance party. They were fun but were really more dance party moneymakers for the venue than fundraisers for orgs that I cared about.

And, in 2004, I created the Bad Boys on the Hudson as the east coast equivalent to the west coast's Bad Boys parties. It's always been it's own odd sort of animal but successful nonetheless.

Staging a fundraiser with multiple talents coming from a variety of backgrounds (porn, drag, leather, etc) is a sort of large scale job... embarking on it with a zero budget just makes it that much more challenging (and, at times, it has felt impossible).

And so here we are.

At the end of a long, spectacular and unexpectedly long road. Oh the fun I've had. Too many stories to tell here and most of them the kind of story that sounds like someone telling you their dream - interesting to me, but maybe not so much to you who weren't there.

I don't know that there will never be another Bad Boys type event - I never say 'never' - and I'll still be doing my weekly Bingo night (for awhile at least, more on this another time), but as far as the Sea Tea and the Queen of Hearts goes, tonight is the end of our story.

A portion of the door will go to Cycle for the Cause and the money raised will go to support Mr. Eagle Arsenio Amadis' ride this September. Which, given how my descent into fundraising started off at the Gauntlet turned Eagle, is kind of poetic and appropriate. :)

Tickets will be available at the door for $30 and includes a dinner aboard the boat. Doors open at 6pm, launch is at 7:30pm and we return to the pier at 10pm. We are not at Pier 40 at the end of Christopher Street as usual, we are at Pier 78 at the end of W. 38th Street instead. You will have to walk along W. 34th Street to get there.

It looks like it's going to be a beautiful day - I will see you there or catch you on the flip side.

July 13, 2013

Someone once said to me, fairly curtly, that they found it ridiculous that I would waste any time at all posting pics from Bingo from weeks that were even two or three weeks passed, much less two to three to four months in the past. I guess I understand that. In today's era where pics are posted as something happens, I might as well be postin pics from a decade ago.

But you know, it matters to me and I'm pretty sure it matters to the guests and the stars that show up for our little soiree every Wednesday night .... and while I wish my life was constructed to do it the day after, I kind of find it nice to be able to look back at these times with some fondness.

Like the April 3rd night. I had just started the contract on the day job and I think I was kind of in a stunned state during this show. I'd gone to what seemed like a normal temp job, and suddenly I was thrust into helping plan a dozen events for hundreds and hundreds of people in several locations in the tri state area. Yikes. I do love it but oy, I was not prepared for it.

But I have to say.... as the weeks have gone by, I have found a certain kind of joy in doing the show. Since the job is so button up, showing up at Uncle Charlies and drinking and saying all sorts of naughty things, is a great release.

Anyway, I welcomed Gay Men's Chorus Queen Lily Putian and current Mr. Eagle Arsenio as my guests that night - and we raised funds for Terry Christopher's Wisconsin AIDS Ride. The place was packed with Chorus people throughout the evening and we raised a few bucks for Terry's ride, which is coming up.

Terry is, by coincidence, Bingo's beneficiary next week, Wednesday July 17. And also by coincidence, this Sunday's Bad Boys on the Hudson (the final one by the way in case you hadn't heard) will benefit Arsenio's Cycle for the Cause ride in late September. And if you're looking for more return engagements, look to August 7th when Lily and the Chorus Butch will darken our door again - and unleash all manners of Chorus talent out into the world. More on that in the coming weeks.

So, yesterday afternoon, I was at the day job. It was Friday, my boss (or is it colleague? I can't keep track) had left for Fire Island, it was raining, I had had a long long week both professionally and personally - lots of drama, and no Playbill.

But thank God for my peeps, such as Matt Knife, Jonny Mack, Chris from the Gay Geeks and Witti Repartee among others who kept me (mostly) on track even though at times I felt as though I was careening off into the ditch.

I was exhausted both mentally and physically and was considering leaving early, which for a freelancer is kind of stupid (no work, no pay).. but that's where I was at.

I got up from my desk around mid-afternoon to get some air. It was kind of drizzling outside without really committing to a full on rain storm. Who knew even the weather had committment issues?

The elevator opened and a woman was standing there, looking mildly startled.

She said: "You didn't see that"

I looked at her with a kind of "What?" expression.

She: "I was dancing"

And as she started to ramble on about why she was dancing and the doors closed, I interrupted her saying: "It's OK. Everybody needs a dance break every now and then"

She looked relieved and from the 43rd Floor to the lobby we boogied. She did a sort of Violet dance from the Peanuts 1960s Xmas special, and I did a Chandler dance.

I don't know why but somehow that made everything better. Dancing has a way of doing that.

and

You see, everybody needs a dance break. Everybody. :)

Also: nobody leaves this place without singing the blues. Nobody. :) (enjoy the clip -- which also features some awkward white people dancing.. just like us in the elevator)

July 10, 2013

Get ready for a big show tonight, July 10th,
with three fabulous performers - raising funds for the new Bronx
community center! Join your host Will Clark and his guests - Cisco,
Jackie Dupree and the sensational Tym Moss from 9pm to 11pm for an
incredible night of fundraising and entertainment! No cover, cheap booze
and BINGO!

PLUS: we'll be including as one of the prizes, two tickets to Will
Clark's Tenth and FINAL Bad Boys on the Hudson - A Burlesque Dance Party
aboard the Sea Tea with DJ Jonny Mack! http://www.seatea.com/ sailing Sunday July 14th! Proceeds from the event will go to benefit the LGBT Center's annual Braking the Cycle ride.

July 03, 2013

Nestled between two big holidays, we're the mystery meat in the Pride/Independance Day sammich... yes tonight, Wednesday July 3rd we're launching the big holiday weekend (the one your boss actually recognizes as a legit reason to take a couple days off) with my guests Robusta Capp and XXX hottie Antonio Manero, who, with DVDs from Cockyboys, cheap drinks and Bingo bingo bingo, we'll have a great time raising funds for Braking AIDS (formerly known as "Braking the Cycle') the 300 mile AIDS Ride from Boston to New York that benefits Housing Works. As always there's no cover and while the booze is cheap, the men are cheaper! See you tonight starting at 9pm at Uncle Charlies located at 139 E. 45th Street between Lexington and Third!

July 02, 2013

I know I'm supposed to be on the Pride bandwagon and all but this past weekend, I felt a little bit of antarctic disinterest towards the whole thing. I'm not sure why. Sure, Pride weekend sometimes hasn't felt as special to me as I think it does to a lot of other people, because, up until recently, I've lived my life as a 24/7 gay pride parade. Pride Sunday was sort of just one more day. Also, after a couple decades of Parades, I kind of feel as though they are like James Bond movies - you could see all of them if you wanted to, but do you really need to? (as a lay Bond fan, I find the Daniel Craig Bonds more watchable than the others but admittedly some of that has to do with the man cake on display in his movies)

In any event, I spent the first third of the day prepping the Tenth and Final Bad Boys on the Hudson slated for Sunday July 14th. Lots of fun, click here to see the Facebook invite (feel free to 'join' yourself, but you still have to buy a ticket). I then went down to the West Village, and ended up at Rockbar. I thought a super hot guy was cruising me until I realized that the video screen was just behind me. Whoops. I danced with the hubby of another friend and someone cracked my back. There were also $3 cans of beer and 80s rock videos playing. There was also a $3 cover, which all things considered, is pretty reasonable. Someone behind me grumbled "what a ripoff" in exactly the same tone as my mother did once when I was a teen. We - my mom, my sister and I - were in line for the movies and when my mom was told the ticket price, which had raised, my mom, trying to be all current.. it was the mid-1970s ... said in a voice and tone I'll never forget, "what a ripoff!" Naturally my sister and I hung our heads in embarrassment ("m-oom"). So there I was standing in line, digging out my $3 and I heard "what a ripoff"... and I had to smile. My mom had joined me for Gay Pride in New York - well, you see, not everyone lives their life like every day is Gay Pride... and so I'm glad that she gave it a try. It's kind of funny what you find when you're not looking, huh?

Speaking of gay, tomorrow night, Wednesday July 3rd, I'm throwing a kick off for the big holiday weekend and hope you'll join me at Uncle Charlies for another edition of "The Will Clark Show feat. P*rno Bingo" Drag queen Robusta Capp and XXX hottie Antonio Manero will be my guests and we hve cheap booze and even cheaper men! That's from 9pm to 11pm at Uncle Charlies located at 139 E. 45th between Lexington and Third.